Ogier Côte-Rôtie 2000

This week I am bringing my fleeting fascination with the Northern Rhône
vineyards to an end with another Côte-Rôtie, what must be one of the
best value appellations of the Rhône Valley. In a way we bring things full
circle here, as in this region we see again a practice which I first described
when discussing Hermitage, early on in this look at the
Northern Rhône. That practise is the blending of white grapes in with the red,
in this case Viognier - best known as the variety responsible for much of the
character of Condrieu - may be blended in with the Syrah, to a maximum of 20% in
any wine. In the vineyard, however, the proportion of Viognier suggests it may
play a smaller role than appellations regulations would allow; it accounts for
just 5% of the planted vineyard area, Syrah alone covering the remaining 95%.
In those wines where Viognier plays a role, which is not all of them, the
percentage of this aromatic white variety varies between 3% and 5%, with a very
few wines exceeding this upper boundary.

Much of the Viognier is planted in the
more southerly of the Côte-Rôtie vineyards; this may at first seem strange when
one considers the reason for permitting the inclusion of the variety - that
white varieties accidentally mixed in with a red vineyard could be harvested and
included - but it is not so strange when we realise that those vineyards to the
south, near Condrieu, have soils of loose granite best suited to the variety. The vineyards of the appellation are many and varied, but perhaps the two most
renowned are Côte Brune and Côte Blonde which lie fairly central
to the appellation, just behind Ampuis. These two vineyards take the lead roles in
an apocryphal Rhône Valley tale which I can not
resist repeating; the two slopes are alleged named for two daughters - one
with blond hair, the other a brunette - of the Maugiron family, and the wines
perhaps, just perhaps, in some way reflect the characteristics of these two
mademoiselles. At least that is what every text on the wines of the Rhône
Valley will tell you. I remain doubtful about the veracity of this tale,
and also to some extent about the veracity of some wines that declare these two
famous vineyards as origin. The classic example is of course the Brune
et Blonde from Guigal, a leading négociant that is widely known to purchase Côte-Rôtie fruit from
vineyards all over the appellation. Enough said, I think.

There are no doubts about the source of this week's wine, as the Ogier family, who in the 1970s were selling all their produce to
Guigal, own vines principally in the Côte Rozier and Lancement vineyards
although there are others, some coming into the fold as a source of négoce
wines, others in the vin de pays vineyards that lie all around Côte-Rôtie. The wine, the
2000 Côte-Rôtie from Domaine Ogier, has an attractive hue, dark and a touch
glossy, although it peters out to a fairly pale, rather wide rim. The nose has
some very attractive components; black pepper and spices, a rather savage tinge
of animal fur and horse hair. There are soft black fruits, freshly ripened
blackberries, with a little sweet, slightly jammy note. There is also a rather
light note to it, a little peachiness. On the palate it has a cool style at
first, in impact it is rather light, showing only a gentle substance through the middle,
with fairly spicy, firm band of tannins around the edge. The acidity is rather
low, and although not very prominent there is a little soft, jammy character. This has a very fresh, cool vintage feel to it. But that isn't to
say that it isn't pretty and indeed it is fairly tasty. There is not a lot of very typical Côte-Rôtie
character showing through on the palate at the moment, but this wine has time on
its side. An attractive, good wine,
although last week's Burgaud has the edge I think. 16.5+/20
(18/2/08)